


How To Become a Mafia Boss Without Even Trying

by LadyLilyAnne, Melfice13



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: BAMF Tsuna, Brotherly Basil, CEDEF trained Tsuna, F/F, F/M, Gen, Gratuitous Use of Comic Book Violence, Iemitsu is an Extreme Idiot, Lal Mirch and Colonello Are The Best Parents Ever, M/M, Mentor Skull, Multi, Other, Over Protective Skylarks, Reborn Has No Idea What He Is Stepping In, Squalo is the Best Uncle Ever, The Mafia Doesn't Know What is About to Hit It, Trigger Happy Everyone, Uncle Shark, Uncle Verde, Varia Quality Tsuna, Vongola's Principessa, Xanxus Is an Overprotective Big Brother, oblivious lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-07 18:46:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10367037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLilyAnne/pseuds/LadyLilyAnne, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melfice13/pseuds/Melfice13
Summary: Tsunako Sawada had only one desire in life, to be left alone in peace. She didn't mind her negligent father dragging her and Mama to Italy every summer though, not when she was watched over by Lal Mirch and got to hang out with her 'brother' Basil and all the crazy people that were drawn to them. No, it was when she somehow became a Yakuza boss that things went south...why her?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is transferred over from my account on Fanfiction.net under the handle Nemesis13. This story, and Tsunako Sawada specifically were made possible thanks to my good friend LadyLilyAnne and I hope you all enjoy what we've weaved together in the world of KHR. Enjoy the world seen through the eyes of a little girl 'spoiled' by her negligent father and vapid mother as she is inadvertently raised by the mafia. 
> 
> It all might have worked out peacefully if she hadn't met that blood thirsty skylark... Please do leave a comment!

Before it was ever announced that she was to be the Vongola Decima, Tsunako Sawada had already been head of a semi-benevolent yakuza group that had formed around her without her consent. It was something she had to reiterate every now and then to keep herself sane, even if the eccentric group that surrounded her largely ignored her pained declarations.

It had all started out so innocently, she'd just been walking home minding her own business when she heard loud yelling in a vacant building. Peeking inside she saw a couple of middle schoolers beating on a boy a bit older then her as a girl her own age cowered in the corner.

This was unacceptable, if they kept this up the Demon of Namimori would be summoned and bite everyone to death for breaking the peace, including Tsunako for just being in proximity of said disturbance.

Tsunako did not want to be bitten to death.

So she pulled out the taser Lal Mirch had given her during Tsunako and mama's visit to Italy this spring from her hoody pocket and turned it on.

What Tsunako was unaware of though was that Lal Mirch was of the opinion that if a little girl was in a situation that she needed to use a taser, then the target of said tasering deserved to be in a world of pain.

So with two quick jabs, followed by the disconcertingly loud discharges of electricity both older boys were thrown to the far wall and left there twitching. Glancing down at the bloodied boy with white hair at her feet Tsunako sighed in resignation knowing full well that her conscious wouldn't let her leave him like this.

It was a decision she'd come to dearly to regret in later years.

Shrugging her Hello Kitty backpack off, Tsunako rummaged inside for a moment and soon pulled out a military grade first aid kit. She'd never actually opened it before; it along with many of the things Lal had given her was likely largely illegal so she did her best to remain ignorant just in case the police in Namimori ever bothered to do their jobs. As Skull liked to say, 'Plausible deniability is a wonderful thing, especially when no one expects you to be so underhanded.'

She really had no idea why everyone was so rough on the poor guy, Skull was awesome when he wasn't tricking everyone into thinking he was a moron.

Popping the kit open Tsunako let out a fond snort as she plucked the Walther PPK pistol from the case and slid it back into her backpack, the near comatose boy none the wiser to the weapons existence. Seriously, Lal Mirch was the best babysitter ever, the woman in a toddlers body was of the belief that you could never be paranoid enough and tried to imbue that philosophy in her unofficial disciple.

Tsunako honestly thought she did her sensei proud in that department, regardless she had to get this done and over with before the boys she tased recovered. She was midway through treating the boy's wounds when the girl in the corner finally seemed to recover her wits and rushed over to offer a hand.

Apparently her name was Kyoko Sasagawa, the boy she was patching up was her brother Ryohei, and the boys smoldering in the corner had kidnapped Kyoko to hurt said brother.

That just wouldn't do. Seriously, was she the only person in this city who realized behavior like this would summon the Bloodlusting Skylark? Was she the only one with survival instincts and common sense?!

She just sighed at that remembering Lal's lessons, common sense was anything but, so leaving Kyoko to finish bandaging her now semi-coherent brother Tsunako took the pistol from her bookbag and approached the boys who instigated this entirely absurd series of events.

She none too gently began kicking each of them for a time, eventually they came to groaning and sat up backs propped against the wall. Let it be said, while they lacked common sense they weren't idiots, so when they focused on the nine year old girl with burning orange eyes aiming a gun right in their faces, they listened.

Inwardly she sighed in annoyance, why, why did she have to have her hair in pigtails today? This would be so much more intimidating without them and the pink hoody...ugh...

"Listen up, my name is Tsunako Sawada and this is my territory. I like to keep things peaceful around Namimori, I like it quiet, I like it sedate. So if you idiots _ever_ try something like this again on my watch?"

She cocked the hammer back and raised a single brow, "Savvy?" It was a word Colonnello had taught her, and it didn't translate well to Japanese, but thankfully gun totting little girls grinning in a creepy manner conveyed much more than words. The two boys nodded emphatically, one of them even peeing himself, and they quickly rushed to leave the building.

Turning back to the Sasagawa siblings Tsunako reclaimed her partially used medkit, shoved it, and the Walther back into the Hello Kitty backpack, and helped Kyoko pull the still shaky boy from the floor.

"I Extremely appreciate the help little lady!" The boy rasped out, she had the distinct impression that if his neck hadn't been bruised he'd have yelled that at the top of his lungs.

"Just doing my best to help keep Namimori a safe place," she muttered in turn. Leaving the building she helped guide the semi-lucid boy home as his sister fretted about his injuries, not that she could particularly blame her. He'd gotten quite the thorough beat down, only time she'd ever been that messed up was when she and Basil had fought over the TV remote back in Italy.

Mind, Basil was one of the few people in the world with the common sense to recognize that Tsunako was not made of porcelain and was in fact legitimately dangerous. After all, Lal had arranged for Tsunako to be trained by her friend Fon when the girl was six, mostly due to her father being an oblivious idiot in regards to her personal safety. Luckily Tsunako had taken to martial arts like a duck to water and Basil being her cohort and partner in crime was aware of this.

Thus it was no shock that he went all out when the confrontation began, it had begun epicly enough but neither had won in the end though. Lal had walked in on them, smacked the both of them around like they were disobedient puppies (which they were in her eyes) and grounded them for the weekend after scolding Basil for hitting girls, leaving the poor boy in tears.

Basil being Basil gave Tsunako his chocolate muffin at dinner that night to apologize, he was kinda awesome like that so Tsunako had forgiven him after giving the boy a hug.

Shaking herself from her reverie Tsunako entered the Sasagawa household and after walking into the living room she and Kyoko gently lowered Ryohei to the couch. Kyoko then ran off to get her mother, leaving Tsunako standing there awkwardly not knowing whether she should stay or go.

That was when she had made one of her many terrible life decisions that guaranteed she would never have anything related to 'Peace and Quiet' in her life ever again.

"Hey, Sawada," Ryohei rasped out, "I saw how you Extremely took those guys out, and Extremely threatened them. I appreciate it, I'm strong, and I know it, so people go after my Extreme weaknesses... I don't know what I would do if anything happened to Kyoko... So I offer my Extreme thanks..."

He extended his arm out with his fist clenched as he gave her a lopsided grin, Tsunako couldn't help returning it as she bumped her fist against his, "Only the strong can show mercy and kindness. We're the only ones who can afford to do so, it goes the same way when you protect the weak eh? If they can't protect themselves, we use our excess strength to protect them instead."

Ryohei's grin turned into a wide smile that seemed to shine like the sun after that, "Extremely right Sawada! You should join my boxing club! Well, I don't have it yet, but when I enter middle school I Extremely will! What do you say?"

She should have kept her stupid mouth shut, but how was she to know what would eventually come from this decision?

"Sure, sounds like fun."

Not long after that fateful choice had been made she left the Sasagawa household and headed home, feeling that creeping feeling that Lal told her was Hyper Intuition begin to freak out she ducked into a side alley. Taking her Walther from the Hello Kitty backpack she jammed it into her hoody pocket with her taser and quickly resumed her journey home.

Not a block from her house she felt her Intuition spike and dove to the side, a clang of steel on concrete echoing across the empty streets as she pulled the taser and pistol from her pockets. She had no idea who or what was attacking her, she simply blindly countered the striking tonfa with her pistol while lashing out with the sparking taser, and after a few minutes of this her assailant stopped all motion.

Breathing heavily she stared at the boy before her, his cold grey blue eyes staring at her in interest, tonfas held lazily in his hands as his head cocked to the side and a damn scary smirk crawled up his lips.

"Wao..." Oh no. Nonononononono. NO. JUST NO!

Kyoya Hibari, the freaking Demon of Namimori, the flesh eating Skylark she'd tried so hard to avoid since she'd become aware of his existence was standing right in front of her, _smiling_ , looking highly impressed.

She was going to die.

Before she could even fully process this he slid his tonfas back up his sleeves and approached the very weary Tsunako, a moment later he slowly stretched out a hand and ruffled her hair.

Really. What. The. Hell.

"Small animal, it is close to curfew, head home," and with that he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked off as if he hadn't just tried to beat her skull in.

"What is...you know...never mind...I don't want to know, screw it...I'll Skype Basil about it tomorrow..." Stupid time zone differences... Making her way home she entered the house and quickly received an enthusiastic hug from mama, ate a delicious dinner, and took a relaxing bath.

Pushing the days events to the back of her head the nine year old girl fell asleep peacefully, confidant that tomorrow everything would be back to normal. In the morning she brushed her hair, cleaned her teeth, shucked her pajamas and pulled on her school clothes. Heading downstairs she entered the kitchen and ate breakfast, drank too much coffee for a girl her age (she was stressed out, give her a break) and quickly made up her bento for lunch.

Pausing in the motions she remembered something Skull had once told her when Lal had dragged him into the CEDEF infirmary after one of his jobs had gone pear shaped, "If you run into someone stronger than you, bribe them to leave you alone." It was cowardly, but she did oh so enjoy her peace, thus she used the leftover hamburger steak from last nights dinner to make up an extra bento for the terrifying Skylark.

This would end up being yet another mistake she had inadvertently made in the past two days, but one with long reaching repercussions. Really, how was she supposed to know it was his favorite food?!

Walking to school Tsunako met up with her best friend Hana, who she had been unaware was actually acquaintances with Kyoko who was currently shyly standing at her side. It really took no time at all for them to all relate over something and soon the trio become solid friends. This would seriously be, in Tsunako's opinion anyway, the only good thing that had come out of the situation she would soon find herself in.

Reaching their elementary school the girls passed the gates and froze as The Skylark stood in their path, in no mood to fight Tsunako stepped forward and offered the bento she'd made earlier to the boy.

"Hibari-senpai, I...I made you lunch, because of yesterday and all, it's hamburger steak, I hope you like it!" He'd looked unimpressed at first but at the announcement of its contents both his brows rose in interest, taking the offered box he let out a 'Hn' before ruffling her hair once again and then as if by magic jumped to the school roof.

What. The. Hell.

Not asking questions, Hana because she didn't care, Kyoko because she was oblivious, and Tsunako due to knowing this was all going to end in a headache, the trio quickly entered the school.

School, thankfully was not a big deal, when you were tutored by someone like Lal Mirch and Fon alongside someone as brilliant as Basil well... Being mediocre was just unacceptable, and she was just going to leave it at that.

So after what amounted to a complete and utter waste of her time school ended, and as she and her friends left the gates they were once again intercepted by Hibari. He stared down at them for a moment before offering the now empty bento box, ruffling her hair once again he spoke quietly yet firmly.

"Small animal, I require one of these every Thursday," with that he turned around and again gave physics the finger as he jumped to a buildings roof like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Hana just eyed the empty box while shaking her head, Kyoko looked confused, and Tsunako felt like she had unintentionally made a grave mistake.

She had officially earned the interest of one Kyoya Hibari, despite everything she had done to avoid the boy in question.

She was good as dead.

If only...

* * *

 

**Through the Eyes of a Skylark and Shark**

 

* * *

When he had received word that the loud herbivore had been lured into a trap by coward herbivores via kidnapping said loud herbivore's weak herbivore sister Kyoya Hibari had done what any carnivore shepard must do when his herd strayed.

He prepared to bite them all to death.

What was unforeseen was a small female herbivore whose existence he had only been vaguely aware of to wander on the scene first, then...well things became very interesting.

The small herbivore observed the attack on the loud herbivore and in a very none herbivorous action sighed in annoyance, and much to Kyoya's surprise she didn't hesitate to rush forward and bite both attackers to death.

How interesting.

Was she a carnivore in disguise? Perhaps, perhaps not, he was further confused by the fact that rather than finishing off her prey she shucked off her disgustingly cheerful backpack and pulled out a medical kit.

No she couldn't be a carnivore, no carnivore would do something as inane as patching up an herbivore when their prey was still moving, but as she cracked it open he couldn't help letting his brows raise.

She pulled a pistol out of the kit and stared at it fondly, something illegal and thus against the laws of Namimori for sure, but it spoke greatly of her thought processes.

Execute the weak, or patch them up and herd them to become stronger? She stared at the loud herbivore for a few moments before shaking her head and placing the pistol back in her bag and began bandaging him.

The small herbivore had decided he was worth saving, interesting, after a time the loud herbivore's _incredibly_ herbivore sister rushed over and sprayed a verbal deluge that screamed of crowding at the small herbivore.

The small herbivore's previously unassuming brown eyes began glowing orange.

His interest now grew.

She finished patching the loud herbivore and left him with the weak sister herbivore as she pulled her pistol from her bag and soon she approached the still inert herbivores that started this entire situation.

She than proceeded to bite them to death until they finally acknowledged her position over them, she than continued to quite casually threaten them with ignoble death which, much to Kyoya's amusement and disgust, caused one of the herbivores to urinate himself.

What irritated him and made him wish to bite the small herbivore to death though was her proclamation that Namimori was _her_ territory.

Silly herbivore, you can't claim the territory of a carnivore like that, it simply would not work, no carnivore would bow to prey. Still observing he couldn't help but nod in approval though as she announced the reason for helping the loud herbivore being that she wished to simply keep Namimori a safe place.

Herbivore she may be, but she had her priorities in the right place at least.

She proceeded to help the loud herbivore and his weak herbivore sister home, after an incredibly boring half hour she left the house and much to his approval she took in her surroundings before moving on her way.

Kyoya followed her for a time before she seemed to tense a moment and dove into an alley, odd, but herbivores were odd regardless so he asked no questions when she exited said alley and continued on her way.

As he followed her he couldn't mesh her actions with his designation of her; she was an herbivore, yet she hadn't hesitated to take down and threaten other herbivores into submission. She owed the loud herbivore nothing, yet she patched him and escorted his broken form and weak sister home.

She was tense and observant but it wasn't like a deer or the like who was fearing a carnivore was about, but he couldn't place exactly what she was waiting for. She was confusing, so so so confusing.

When Kyoya Hibari was confused, he did the only thing he could that made sense to stop said confusion.

He decided to bite her to death.

Though, as it turned out, he couldn't quite manage to do so.

The small herbivore didn't display eye spots or puff herself up to try and intimidate him, rather she extended her claws and bared her fangs knocking back his assault in a methodical and practiced manner.

This wasn't the panicked gestures of a cornered herbivore, these were strikes of someone quite use to being on the top of the food chain, these...these were the motions of a predator, a carnivore.

This further confused him, because she was obviously not a carnivore due to the fact that today was the first day he truly noticed her, but...but she was also obviously not an herbivore. She was not a grazer, she was not content to be flocked, she was a hunter, a killer, like him, yet not, not yet quite there.

Ah.

She was a carnivore in training, still having herbivorous tendencies leaving her caught in that uncomfortable middle ground his mother had warned him about. She wasn't a small herbivore, nor was she a carnivore she was...

Stopping his attack he paused and looked her over, burning oh so endless orange eyes, fluffy brown hair, the back half pulled into pigtails, standard school uniform along with a pink hooded sweatshirt and a Hello Kitty backpack.

A sparking taser burning ozone around them in one hand, a pistol with its safety off in the other, and she just stared back at him, meeting eye to eye without any fear evident.

For some reason he felt something in his chest clench, stupid weak biology.

He finally figured out what she was and what she was doing though. She had started out as an herbivore but a carnivore had decided to make her more, and while her attempts at claiming territory were clumsy, her efforts were not without merit.

In so long as she kept the safety of Namimori and its herd a priority, he would allow this...small animal to go through the growing pains of becoming a carnivore. Ruffling her hair with affectionate amusement he advised her to head home and than proceeded to do so himself.

His hunting grounds had suddenly become far more interesting than he had ever anticipated them to be.

The next day found him at his boring school waiting for his herd to arrive, perhaps when he entered middle school he'd start a committee to do such things in his place, he would handle the biting to death but leave this menial bit up to the rank and file. Leaving that thought to gestate he began composing a rather violent poem in his mind when the small animal approached him.

How odd, she offered him food like an herbivore trying to placate an unruly carnivore, how...weak. His momentary disappointment was wiped away when she announced what it was, hamburger steak, his absolute favorite.

So...the small animal wasn't trying to bribe him into submission but rather offer his favored meal in order to keep her position of authority of the territory she had claimed. Admittedly, it was a small stretch of territory, only between her home and the school, and she was only a carnivore in training rather than the real thing.

Plus, her goal was a peaceful Namimori, which was something Kyoya desired as well, so once again ruffling the small animals oh so soft hair he accepted her bento and left her to her own devices.

Upon consuming said meal, he knew that she had struck a bloody blow against him.

He wanted more.

So begrudgingly he met her after school and returned the now empty box to her, after feeling her soft hair yet again he admitted he wished to have her meals once a week and than fled in embarrassment.

He shouldn't feel like this, he was a Hibari, he was an apex predator, a carnivore that would never be bound, yet...he found himself drawn to the small animal with smoldering orange eyes.

How...interestingly vexing...

* * *

When she arrived back home Tsunako just ran up to her bedroom, jumped on her bed, and proceeded to scream into her pillow.

NOTHING had gone the way she had planned, her Hyper Intuition that had always served her well had completely blanked itself out when dealing with the bloodthirsty Skylark and she didn't know what to DO about it! She couldn't call home, Aunt Lal and her brother would be asleep, god only knew where Uncle Colonnello was at the moment, Skull was perhaps an option but...ugh...this sucked.

This sucked so much...

Well...perhaps...they were all alcoholics so there was a chance they were awake, and they were so use to being thrashed that their advice couldn't be _that_ bad despite being drunk...still...

He _technically_ was her second favorite uncle after Master Fon, Colonnello while bearing the Uncle title was more of a father to her really, still... Oh why not.

Pulling out her CEDEF issued mobile she searched through her contacts a few moments before clicking on the one she was looking for, pulling it to her ear she waited for a time before it was picked up and winced at the returning cry.

"VOI! Who the fuck is calling at this hour!? I swear to fucking Christ my fucking sword is going to make sweet merciless love to your goddamn lungs!"

Snorting she rolled her eyes to the ceiling while shaking her head, "Hey Uncle Shark, I need some advice and was hoping you'd help."

The previously enraged voice on the other end of the line quieted down instantly as Squalo quickly replied, "Oh, Principessa, sorry about that, what do you need?"

Smiling widely she began kicking her feet in the air as she responded, "Well yesterday this boy I'd been trying to avoid finally caught wind of me and today I tried to bribe him away with food. Thing is, he just keeps ruffling my hair and calling me a small animal, and now he wants me to give him the same meal once a week from now on, and I'm super confused. I don't get boys, especially older boys, I was hoping you could explain what was going on?"

Squalo's blood boiled at the thought of older men taking advantage of his adoptive niece and he soon screamed his rage into his phone, "VOOOOOI! WHO THE FUCK IS THIS LITTLE SHIT BASTARD!? I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM!" Pulling her mobile away from her ear Tsunako couldn't help but sigh in relief, finally...finally things were at least returning to slight normality.

"Kyoya Hibari, he umm...I dunno how old he actually is? Eleven maybe? He's scary strong, like I think he could take on some of the weaker Varia as is, give him a few years and he'd probably be able to take on Xanxus-nii. He wouldn't _win_ mind, but Xanxus-nii would have to get his lazy ass off his chair at least."

Squalo was still fuming, the alcohol in his system not helping in the slightest, "Voi...Ok...ok... How did he take notice of you?" So she explained everything that happened, how her Intuition had failed her, and how things were just becoming so blasted confusing, Squalo though, as manic as he could be in combat, listened with intent patience.

"And that's it, dunno what to do after this, not like I can talk to my mom about it after all, she's wonderful but oblivious and frankly too submissive to be of use so...yeah..."

Squalo pondered on the Intuition failure for a few moments before nodding to himself, taking a gulp from his bottle of tequila he swallowed it before responding, "All right, I have no idea with the Intuition thing. Shitty Boss doesn't have it and his brothers don't talk about it, I _do_ have access to the Ottavia's journals though, I can send copies your way and you can see if Daniela had anything like that happen to her."

Tsunako smiled brightly at that, "Anything would help Uncle Shark! I really appreciate it, are you sure you're going to remember this in the morning?"

He snorted in amusement, "Yeah I wrote it on Levi's face with a marker, don't worry I won't forget."

With that she said her farewells and went downstairs for dinner, cheerfully munching through her meal as she exchanged a bit of inane chatter with mama, and the small Mafia Princess couldn't help but feel that she had the greatest family in the world.

She never noticed the blank faced boy with grey blue eyes staring at her through the living room window, which if truth were to be told was probably for the best. Hibari was after all not fire proof, and even Nana would take notice of the fact that her daughter was essentially a pyromancer.

Ignorance as they say, was bliss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts off with a glimpse ten years into the future then follows a series of snapshots over several months in the present. Hope you enjoy!

**Ten Years Later, Imagine you were just shot by a purple bazooka and you'll soon return home.**

* * *

Sophia stared out her window for what felt like hours, the washed out nights sky barely visible through all the light pollution. She hated her life, she hated her existence, she hated everything, so when a flash shot across the sky, she made a wish.

"I wish I was free...that all of us were free..." and soon she slipped into the realm of Morpheus.

What felt like moments later she sat up in her bed with a jolt, her thin blanket falling away as the fifteen year old shivered in the mornings lying calm, wrapping her arms around herself she shuddered as images of the past assailed her mind and she tried to remain calm despite knowing it was pointless. It was a lie, all a lie, her step father had sold her to these people, this familigia to recover a gambling debt and she was the one to suffer for it.

In turn, she lived a lie.

They hadn't raped her _yet,_ they wanted her to bloom fully first, thankfully the boss wasn't a pedophile or someone who enjoyed under aged girls, this really wasn't a saving grace though. He loved dominating women, he loved breaking them, hurting them, making them scream, Sophia knew this because the older girls, with shadows in their eyes and hesitation in their step had told her such.

As the guard opened her door she meekly followed him down to the washrooms and entered the lines of other girls who took turns using the communal showers and sinks. There was a variety of girls from across the world, the Eston Familigia liked diversity in their harems as it turned out.

Luckily for them men across the globe were willing to sell their daughters for a pittance to save their own hides, and in these harsh times there were many potential sellers.

Sophia remained silent as she observed the girl before her, more a woman really now that she gave her full focus. Caramel brown eyes flecked with orange observed her surroundings passively, her chocolate brown hair pulled into a loose fluffy pony tail, foot tapping the floor in impatience.

It took Sophia a moment to realize what she was seeing, but when she did she felt her stomach clench in fear and hope.

There was a Lioness before her, gauging the sheep around her as she awaited her turn to the showers, and she was impatiently irritated to boot. As the line moved along she finally entered the showers, a few of the older girls eyed her as she stripped her nightgown off but whatever they had planned died when they saw her exposed skin.

' _Vongola Familiga'_ was tattooed across her back, wrapped around an intricate crest with a pistol cartridge resting in dead center, the naked woman turned to face the huddled girls a moment as a smirk curled up her lips.

No one so much as made a noise as she turned back to the showers and cleaned herself, a few minutes later she exited the showers wrapped in a towel and none of the girls dared to meet the Lioness's eyes. Sophia pushed the terrifying woman out of her mind as she prepared for the day ahead and didn't think of her again until lunch, when Don Salvatore made his appearance, then...well things rather went to hell.

The Don walked into the room looking cocky and lecherous, as always, his white suit and fedora offset by his black tie and cane, looking about the room he spotted the new girl and sauntered up to her.

His Italian was as always polluted with American English accents, but he was understandable enough to send shivers down Sophia's spine.

"My dear you are a rather exquisite example of the feminine form no? Why don't you follow me to my rooms and entertain me for a few hours? It shall be...memorable to say the least."

The brown eyed woman finished her bite of food before sighing, and much to Sophia's surprise replied in an obviously Asian accented tone that clearly displayed her annoyance with the man before her.

"You know, I was really hoping the reports were false, that you hadn't actually involved yourself in human trafficking, that these girls really were here to settle their families debts. I was proven wrong in my hopes, you're just a bunch of rapist pigs using weak willed morons to fill your little harem fantasies with terrified little girls. Honestly, if I actually gave a flying fuck about our species as a whole I'd be offended.

"As it stands, I don't, I'm just annoyed, so this is how it is going down Don Salvatore Eston of the Eston Familigia. You are going to release these girls to my custody, renounce your claims to this territory, and run away as fast as possible in the hopes that I don't destroy everything that you know and love."

Sneering he grabbed the woman by her ponytail and pulled her from her seat, without preamble he jammed a pistol into her forehead while seething out his reply, "You know for a whore who is meant to only suck dick you have quite the mouth on you? Why shouldn't I just kill you now?"

The woman sneered in turn as she snorted in disdain, "Pull the trigger, find out what happens, I dare you."

Don Salvatore glared at her a moment and did just that, pulling the trigger Sophia could only blanche as the woman's head rocked back, then she stood up fully as her now orange eyes glared at the Mafioso before her. A moment later the still smoldering bullet fell from the fire burning on her brow as she snorted in disdain.

"Violence, violence is what is going to happen, I Tsunako Sawada, the Decima of the Vongola Familigia, Donna of said family declare war on you idiots. Kyoya, you may begin your assault." With that Sophia dove under the table as the woman's hands splayed out and orange fire devoured the men before her.

Holy shit, and to think this all happened because she'd wished upon a shooting star!

* * *

**Present Day**

* * *

The weeks following Tsunako's encounter with the murderous Skylark were memorable to say the least, mostly due to her newly acquired hyperactive big brother figure.

Tsunako had no idea what instigated it but one morning she heard screaming from outside the front yard wall, and after groggily sitting up and staring out her window she saw a grinning Ryohei in a track suit standing at the gate yelling at the top of his lungs.

"SAWADA! Wake up we have to EXTREMELY get going if we want to finish our run before class!"

What. The. Hell.

Well, Tsunako was nothing if not adaptable, and it wasn't like she was a newbie to early morning runs, her issue was simply that she hadn't _agreed_ to this beforehand. Ah well, when in the asylum do as the tenants do she supposed, what she did when the Varia babysat her anyway. Not ten minutes later the nine year old girl was standing before the older boy clad in orange sweatpants and hoodie, Ryohei grinned widely as he fist pumped the air in excitement.

"We're going to EXTREMELY get you into shape so when you get into middle school you can EXTREMELY keep up with my club! Come on lets run!" Sighing she rolled her eyes and chased after the loud boy honestly seeing no reason not to follow his lead, truth be told Aunt Lal would probably approve of this, so she decided to just accept the chaos and move along.

This became a ritual over the coming weeks and months, running and sparring with Ryohei (who insisted she call him Onii-san), getting home just in time to shower and make it to school, offer bentos to Hibari-senpai, and hang out with Hana and Kyoko.

She'd never willingly admitted to it but it was around this time she began feeling a near addictive sense of _belonging_ that never quite went away after all this started. She wouldn't know for many years that this was due to her forming the first tenuous connections of her true Family, and the love and pain that it would entail.

* * *

A month after making her late night call to her Uncle, Tsunako found herself running into her favorite murderous shark outside her school. Squalo only grinned as he spread his arms wide when he caught sight of her and she quickly rushed into his embrace. Squalo spoke a quick prayer in Italian as he swung his niece about a few moments before placing the giggling girl on the ground.

Having none of that, she rushed forward once again and wrapped her arms around his waist, earning an amused 'VOI!' from the assassin who ruffled her hair slightly in honest mirth. Being around Vongola's Princess just did that to a man, made him feel clean and free for the first time in years, despite knowing how tarnished you truly were.

"Princepessa, you're getting so big! I'm gonna have to start digging graves early on for all the little _bastardi_ that are going to be chasing after you!"

She giggled happily at that as she locked her fingers together behind her back and began swaying back and forth in honest joy, "That isn't necessary Uncle Shark! I have Onii-san for that now! Anyway what are you doing here? Not that I mind! Did you bring Bel-nii or Luss-chan?!"

Squalo actually felt like a bit of an asshole as he ruffled her hair slightly, "Nah brat, sorry just me. But my useless minions just finished transcribing the Ottavia's journals and I wanted to make sure you got them."

Tsunako gasped as she stared at the suddenly revealed trio of leather bound journals held in Squalo's grasp as he extended his hand towards her, "You did all that for me?!"

Squalo furrowed his brow in confusion while nodding once, "Voi, why the fuck are you so surprised brat? You're my niece, of course I did all that for you." A moment later Tsunako was sobbing as she rushed forward and pulled Squalo into a rather sappy hug, in the end all the assassin could do was roll his eyes and pat her back reassuringly.

One day he was going to shove his sword through her idiot father's back for leaving her this vulnerable, as things stood now he'd just remain content in being one of her only _real_ male role models. Inwardly laughing about that bit of potential taunting material, Squalo took a knee and placed the journals on the ground while grinning widely to the Princepessa.

"Voi, since I wasted my vacation time on this trip and am pretty much stuck in Japan for the next week, I only have one question for you my darling niece. Wanna learn how to hot wire and drive a car through a high speed police chase while we blindly shoot at everything behind us?"

Tsunako froze a moment before breaking away from her Uncle only to meet his gaze with Nana level twinkling eyes and a beaming smile, "Do I ever!"

* * *

As it stood Squalo only stayed two days, Xanxus had apparently put Levi in a coma since he wasn't nearly as robust as the shark assassin and his head couldn't take the shear amount of bottles thrown at it.

Neither Tsunako or Squalo quite knew how to take that, but Squalo being Squalo just accepted that he was superior to Levi ("Everyone is superior to Levi, my sperm donor is superior to Levi!" She had pointed this out only earning a scowl and a "Shut it brat," from her uncle) and moved along. She _did_ learn how to hot wire a car though, but her ongoing fear of instigating further conflict with the Skylark dissuaded her from starting a high speed police chase.

So she began reading Daniela's journals, and my wasn't she an interesting one? She was basically the first feminist in the Mafia, and while people were resistant to her being a female boss dissent died down quickly since she tended to shoot people in the head with a crossbow.

A crossbow that caught people on _fire_.

So Daniela became her new hero and Tsunako soon began translating the real interesting entries into Japanese, Hana would get a kick out of it for sure but she couldn't read Italian yet, just speak it.

She couldn't help gaping a bit at her newest find though, she wasn't quite sure what to think of it really.

**" _29 April 1945: The hit on Benito was finally completed yesterday, they just brought his body to Milan and hung it out in public to show that he was truly dead. Little Timoteo thought it was a bit crass that I made sure I was eighth in line to spit on the corpse but I thought it was rather funny. I'm not really sure if I should be pleased or not that he doesn't quite grasp the concept of taking pleasure in the suffering of your enemies though._**

_**Regardless, Mussolini is dead and the underworld has been given a stark reminder of what happens when you double cross a Vongola, it doesn't matter who you are or what position you hold. In the end you'll pay the price for betrayal."** _

Tsunako blinked a couple moments and then just shook her head moving on to the next entry, sometimes it was just best not to dwell on your family's insane history. She'd make sure to show Hana this one though, she is a history nerd after all.

* * *

Tsunako was walking home from Hana's one March afternoon when her intuition flared, there was danger about and it was aimed towards her. That was interesting, she hadn't had an assassination attempt for months after all (unknowingly to her the Skylark had been taking care of it for Tsunako) and she'd begun thinking maybe her idiot father had stopped blathering about his beautiful wife and adorable daughter to anyone who would listen.

It didn't matter how many times Aunt Lal bitch slapped the fool he just didn't seem to grasp the fact that you can't have your cake and eat it too. Having the luxury of a civilian family you purposely attempt to keep ignorant of the Mafia then _bragging_ about them in public was just pure idiocy.

Luckily Tsunako was Varia and CEDEF quality and your average assassin was...not.

Entering a side alley she stuck her hands in her hoodie pockets palming her taser in anticipation, a moment later two European looking men in suits blocked her exit grinning down at her.

One of them began speaking in clear Italian, "Heh, she is cute like that bastard said, maybe we should have a little fun with her?"

Before she could respond with violence his partner looked at him in disgust, "Dude, not cool she's just a kid. Fuck it lets just grab her and get out of here before we attract the Vindice, this is already pushing our luck."

The other man snorted, "Fine whatever you damn pussy lets ge- HEY! Where did she go!?"

They heard a sigh behind them and they both spun around to see the girl standing there shaking her head in disappointment, "This is just embarrassing, it's almost not worth the effort."

With that she jabbed both of them with her taser sending them flying backwards into the alley, staring down at the twitching men she shook her head in pity, pathetic, even Levi could have handled these two.

Removing her mobile from her pocket she scrolled through the contacts a moment before hitting the call button, a few moments later she cheerfully chirped out her greeting.

"Heyya Uncle Verde, I have a couple test subjects for you, adult males, mid-twenties, healthy aside from some electrical shock damage. Uh huh, uh huh, yeah sure credits fine I know you're good for it. Thanks Uncle have fun!" With that she texted the address to Verde's robot drones and walked away humming to herself.

She was pretty sure Daniela would be proud of her, the thought made her rather happy.

* * *

Tsunako sighed in honest relief as she followed mama through the airport terminal, carry on bag over her shoulder and tickets in hand.

School was out for summer, which meant she was heading home to Italy to spend months with her family while her idiot father dotted on her mother. This was very enticing to the young girl, no dealing with loud big brother figures, no having to make lunch for Hibari, and ironically enough no threat of assassins. Being in the same country as Lal Mirch tends to scare most of them off, which was funny.

Five more minutes, and she would have an entire summer free of stress and her ever increasing paranoia levels.

Turning to head to the right gate to board, she stopped dead in her tracks. There was a Skylark inches from her face, looming over her ever so slightly. She gulped in fear, her heart racing at the shock.

How!? WHY!? WHHHHHY!?

"Hi..Hibari-senpai, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

He stared at her a few moments before mama began fawning over the hard eyed boy, "Oh who is this Tsu-chan? Your boyfriend?"

Tsunako blanched at that, she was nine for crying out loud, yeah she was way smarter and deadlier than most adults but seriously? Glancing to her mother who seemed to have visions of grandchildren running through her rather vapid thoughts Tsunako just rolled her eyes as she shook her head.

"Hn," the Skylark said, sighing Tsunako gestured towards him with an air of defeat.

"Mama this Kyoya Hibari, I go to school with him," Nana of course took this information in and immediately followed it to what she viewed as the most obvious conclusion.

"Oh Tsu-chan he's the boy you've been making lunches for! He is a cutie I'm sure you'll make adorable babies for mama to spoil!"

Now, let this be said, Kyoya and Tsunako may be two of the densest people in the world when it comes to romance, but they were both also incredibly intelligent and operated on near enough the same wavelength to communicate in ways others only dreamed of.

"Hn?" Hibari said with a raised eyebrow.

She sighed, "Yeah all the time, seriously I have no idea how I didn't end up as an oblivious moron, if you can believe it my father is worse."

Hibari's eyes widened slightly and Tsunako nodded slowly, "I know, it's terrifying, I try not to think about it most of the time."

He tilted his head to the side a while pursing his lips, "Hn."

Tsunako pinched the bridge of her nose shaking her head, "I go to Italy every summer while my parents wander off to do whatever it is they do I and I get to spend time with my family. It's a brief respite but it's all I have."

Hibari stared at her a moment, shot a glance to the day dreaming Nana, then sighed as he ruffled Tsunako's hair, "Be careful small animal, I expect my steaks when you return."

That...oddly made her cheeks redden a little, he cared? Enough to show up to the terminal and wish her well? Ugh...ok time to get this moving.

"I will, take care Hibari-senpai," he stared at her a moment then turned to leave, taking a few steps he stopped before looking over his shoulder.

"Kyoya, you may call me Kyoya," fuck she really was blushing now, why...ugh...

"You can call me Tsuna, only Hana and Kyoko do but...you're welcome to..."

He nodded once then continued on his way, "Enjoy your stay in Italy...Tsuna."


	3. The Trials and Tribulations of Being Vongola

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten years later, ten years back, meeting a brother, threatening a Bronco, and ice cream! Oh, and assassination attempts, again, ugh.

**Ten Years Later**

Sophia shifted her uniform slightly sighing as she shook her head, no matter what she did it felt too rich for her. The skirted suit was finely tailored, black with white pinstripes, the hand crafted garment clung to her without feeling confining, perfectly hugging her curves while also looking professional.

She didn't deserve it.

Sighing once again she snatched up the tea tray and began walking forward, navigating her way through the Vongola mansion all while fuming to herself. After being rescued from the Eston Familigia, she, like many of the other girls, didn't have anywhere to go. So in turn the Vongola Decima decided to take pity on them all and find positions for them in her Familigia, be it the legal or...shadier branches.

For some reason, Tsunako Sawada decided Sophia would best fit in the position of her personal assistant, and she really couldn't complain about the arrangement. Working for the young woman, only four years her senior, was...pleasant, to say the least.

She didn't make outrageous demands, she didn't lash out if her orders couldn't be achieved, and she was fun to talk to, frankly Sophia considered herself lucky to have such an understanding Boss.

On that note, Sophia was one of the few people in the world that were not directly related to said woman's Guardians to see her go full Pyromaniac and survive to tell the tale. She would never betray this woman's trust, even if it was out of respectful fear.

Never Ever.

Reaching the door she was about to rap her knuckles against the fine wood when she heard someone speaking loudly. The Donna was in a meeting, it would be best not to interrupt.

"Kufufufu, I don't see what the problem is Tsu-chan," there was a pause before a very audible sigh was heard.

"Mukuro, we've been friends for what, nine, ten years? We know each other, we know each others tells, so please, stare into my eyes." That was the Decima's voice, and my didn't she sound irritated, leaning forward slightly, nearly pressing her ear to the door Sophia continued to listen.

"Murdering thirty seven men to recover a single document is unacceptable. I get it, you're a psychopath, you've got problems, but so do I. Do you have any idea how much paperwork is involved with every one of your murder sprees? I won't have it, not again. Next time do your job without losing your shit or I'll ask Chrome to cut off the nookie for a month, savvy?"

There was a brief silence before he laughed again, "Kufufufufu...you seem to think she could hold out as well, I am after all alluring."

Silence, then laughter, "Oh Mukuro you know I find Chrome-chan to be a delicious little tart, do you honestly think I'd leave her bed cold while you were grounded? I'm sure Kyoya and I could come to an arrangement, if in so long as he got to spite you." Well...that was...

"Kufufu...Fine...No more slaughter sis... Bitch"

Tsunako sighed lightly in relief followed with an affectionate, "It's all I ask Mukuro. Love you, bastard."

As if sensing his presence Sophia stepped aside as the door swung open and a gorgeous blue haired man stepped out before her, giving her a bare glance he huffed and walked away. Shivering she entered the room and placed the tea tray on the Decima's desk, turning to leave Tsunako quickly called for her attention.

"Sophia, a word if I may?" Freezing she gritted her teeth and forced herself to relax before turning to the brunette woman with burning orange eyes.

"Yes Decima?" Sighing the woman closed her eyes before shaking her head slowly, a few moments later she finally replied.

"Would you please make yourself a cup of tea and talk to me for a while?" Freezing in fear and confusion Sophia glanced about looking for an avenue of escape. Finding none she sighed and nodded, pouring a cup of tea for both herself and the Decima she sat in tense silence for a time. Eventually, the Decima turned and grasped her cup, taking a sip she sighed in approval before speaking again.

"I have no idea what tomorrow entails Sophia...but I relish the peace of the moment...thank you, for your part in making it possible."

Smiling without realizing it Sophia nodded slightly, the Decima had freed her after all, was it not her duty to make her smile?

"Of course Decima, I will do as I am commanded," the other woman seemed to fall in on herself a moment before sighing once again before replying.

"Please call me Tsuna Sophia...so few do these days..."

It was at that moment, at this statement, that Sophia came to a harsh realization.

Her savior was human, and she was lonely.

Sipping her tea Sophia nodded slowly in turn, "Ok...Tsuna."

* * *

 

**Present Day**

Basil was not an ordinary nine year old boy by any stretch of the imagination, not that this fact really bothered him all that much. He'd been adopted by Lal Mirch upon Iemitsu Sawada's insistence when he was only an infant, and was that not an oddity in any childs life? A baby being adopted by a woman wearing a toddlers body with an adults intellect and experience?

Thankfully, Lal was what many would call a blunt as hell realist, and had explained the curse that had been inflicted on her in an exacting manner when he was capable of understanding it. This admission also explained away her place in CEDEF's hierarchy without being in your face about it.

After all, who would turn away an Arcobaleno from their ranks? While Lal had become his mother figure, Iemitsu had tried to become his father. Which, if Basil were to be honest with himself, disgusted him beyond words since he was quite aware of the existence of Iemitsu's true offspring.

Iemitsu had a family in Japan, a family he ostensibly kept ignorant of his duties in a ridiculous attempt to live the imaginary lifestyle of a simple family man living a mundane menial life.

His attempts were a complete and utter failure, not that he'd ever notice.

His daughter Tsunako had _easily_ read between the lines and figured things out on her own at the tender age of five. Apparently she put two and two together realizing construction workers don't stay away from home for years at a time directing traffic at the south pole, surrounded by penguins no less. It would seem that her father expected her to be as dense as her mom, unfortunately for him her Vongola blood shown through brightly and she had seen through the lies.

So after one brusque question and answer session between Tsunako Sawada and Lal Mirch, Basil had gained a brilliant and slightly paranoid sister.

Not that paranoia was a _bad_ thing mind you, they were after all mafia and it was a healthy attitude to nurture.

She had then all but demanded to be trained as he had, had insisted to be on par if not superior to his own skills, and wished to gain the ability to protect her mom from the troubles her father dragged them into through his own neglect.

That was when she'd become Lal's personal apprentice, and unknowingly to the small girl, her surrogate daughter.

Leaning against the wall in the busy air terminal the dirty blonde haired boy glanced to his mom raising a single brow at the fuming bluenette, "Mum are you all right?"

Lal froze her pacing mid step as she turned to face her son, head cocking to the side as she stared up at the earnest boy, "You can't blame a woman for being fidgety about seeing her daughter for the first time in nearly a year, Iemitsu isn't helping."

Glancing to his 'Master' (How he despised the ancient Japanese the man had taught him and the titles entailed with it, thank Christ Almighty for his sister and her insistence to properly train him) he watched the muscular blonde man in coveralls with a gimlet eye. The Sky flame user was grinning like a fool as he spun his hardhat in one hand, waiting for the arrival of his family, completely unaware and uncaring of the fact his subordinates were glaring at him.

"I know mum, and I don't blame you, but you know as well as I do that this is just a short term problem, we won't see the man for nearly three months after this." Iemitsu, was, if nothing else, consistent.

Lal snorted as she rubbed the scar on her right cheek, "You aren't wrong there boyo, and..." She froze as a crowd appeared out of the arrival tunnel and caught sight of a beautiful Japanese woman and her adorable escort.

Tsunako hadn't changed much from last summer, a bit taller, a bit more stressed, but just as confident and sure in step as she'd always been. The brunette girl glanced about the massive room a few moments before catching sight of them and then she _smiled_.

Now, here is something that has to be explained, when someone smiles it usually conveyed an emotion, honest happiness, smarminess, veiled threat, what have you. When his little sister smiled though?

It was like the sun, moon, and all the stars were gifting you with their light all at once, all you had to do was accept her, and she'd pull you into her glowing embrace.

Basil felt tears form in the corners of his eyes as Tsunako let go of her mother's hand, ostensibly so Iemitsu could embrace the woman, and soon she rushed through the crowd and wrapped Basil in her warm arms, an embrace he gladly returned.

They stood like that for awhile, he opened his eyes to glance to his side but his mum didn't look offended, no, she looked pleased beyond words, and why wouldn't she? She'd been a soldier, her fiance was a soldier, she had trained soldiers all her adult life, and had trained her children to be soldiers as well.

You treated a sister in arms like family, you had faith in her abilities, you trusted her to have your back and be able to shoulder the weight given to her, and you greeted her safe return with love and relief.

Mum taught him well.

"Basil-nii, I missed you so much," Tsunako muttered into his shoulder, the blonde boy smiled in turn as he rubbed her back reassuringly.

"And I missed you sis, your insane Uncle from our sister organization told me he had visited you earlier this year, that both heartened and concerned me, but it was good to hear that you were well regardless."

She sniffled as she broke the embrace and stepped back running the backside of her hand under her nose while snorting in amusement, "Uncle Shark isn't insane, he's eccentric! His teammates though...eh..."

With that she glanced over to Lal and then her eyes shimmered, "Aunt Lal!" Grabbing the tiny woman into a hug Basil could see his mum grin in pleasure as the girl pulled her close to her chest hugging her lovingly, "It's so good to see you!"

"Not as good as it is to see you brat, you've been keeping up with your training of course?" Releasing the woman, much to the failed Arcobaleno's dissatisfaction, and placing her back on the ground Tsunako grinned and nodded.

"Of course! I've taken out a dozen assassins in the past nine months, been training with a boxing savant, and occasionally sparing with a batshit insane Skylark. I ran out of bullets though so haven't been able to keep up on my pistol training."

Lal smirked while nodding, "I'll make sure you're properly stocked by the time you get home," her smile fell as she sighed and shook her head. "Ready yourself love," Tsunako frowned then a moment later dropped her head in despair.

"MY LITTLE TUNA-FISH! You're still as adorable as ever! Give daddy a hug!" Before anyone could make a move Iemitsu snatched the nine year old girl off the ground and swung her about in an obviously dizzying manner, treating her more like a pet then a child.

"Oh my little girl is so cute! Your hair is still so fluffy and soft, you've been taking good care of mommy haven't you?!" Basil didn't need to see his sister to know that her left eye had just twitched, although he _did_ see her right hand reach into her pocket to grab for her unpresent taser. Clenching said hand in frustration, international weapon laws were the work of the devil, the girl chose to get this over with as fast as possible.

"Hello father, yes I have been taking care of mama, someone has to after all," Iemitsu placed her on the ground laughing obnoxiously as well as loudly.

"That's daddy's little girl! I'm gonna go take mommy out for dinner, Lal, you remember Lal right? She'll take care of you until we get back! Be good!" Just like that, as if he hadn't just seen his daughter for the first time in nearly a year Iemitsu wrapped an arm around a giggling Nana's waist and the pair walked off into the crowd grinning like fools.

Tsunako stood there a moment, hands clenched in quivering rage as her beautiful caramel brown eyes shifted to glowing, burning, orange. Identically colored flames appeared between her fingertips and her hair began to stand on end as pure unadulterated rage boiled beneath her porcelain visage, Basil managed to exchange a tired look with his mum before rushing towards his sister.

Forcing his own Rain flames to his palms he grabbed her hands, the tranquil fires meeting the Cloud tinged Sky flames preventing him from gaining fresh burns as he pulled the girl close meeting her furious gaze.

"Principessa, calm down, please, you'll hurt yourself and all these people," gritting her teeth she stared into Basil's caring eyes for several moments before calming down, he pulled his flames back as her own retracted and he couldn't help sighing in relief.

Tsunako had the purest Sky flames anyone in CEDEF had ever seen, the brilliant orange fires blindingly bright and beautiful. The problem was every flame user had a secondary flame, something that directly reflected their most basic personality traits.

The Ninth's secondary flame was Rain, it was why everyone was so calm in his presence and easily explained why he was able to take such a moderate view on things and be taken seriously. Iemitsu's secondary flame was Sun, thus explaining away his extroverted personality and optimism, while someone like Xanxus had Storm as his secondary thus giving him a volatile personality.

Unfortunately for anyone who would ever cross her, Tsunako rather ironically shared her personal hero Daniela Vongola's alignment, she was a Cloud tinged sky.

Normally, this wouldn't really matter that much, secondary flames were just that, secondary, unfortunately Clouds were...a prickly bunch regardless. They were territorial, violent, and had a habit of getting themselves involved with any sort of confrontation presented to them.

Thing was Tsunako's Cloud flames were inverted, she wasn't territorial over actual _territory_ , streets and buildings meant little to her. No, she was territorial over people, friends and family, and when family disregarded her, essentially abandoned her, not even caring?

Well, that's when the fires started.

Taking his sister's hand he waited a moment as she scooped Lal into her free arm and soon they made there way towards the waiting car, and Basil couldn't help smiling to himself.

It was a rare thing, having his entire family together like this, but he loved it regardless. Colennello wasn't quite a father figure since he stayed at Mafia Island most of the time, so regardless of the respect Basil felt for the man he didn't really consider him family. Lal and Tsunako though?

Turning to the now smiling girl and the smirking baby/woman he couldn't help grinning as well.

It was good to have everyone home

* * *

One of the many issues involved with Tsunako's annual trips to Italy during the summer was the constant housing shuffle she had to endure throughout her entire visit. Be it at CEDEF headquarters, the Vongola and Varia mansions, or some other undisclosed location she was constantly being moved around in a random manner in order to avoid exposing her existence to the Mafia at large.

While it _was_ annoying for the girl it was also fun, since she got to visit all of her Family over the stay, it was just the randomness of her placement's that got on her nerves. It was after all hard to plan for a day out with Enrico-nii or Luss-chan when you didn't know _where_ you were staying the tomorrow.

She made due though as she always did, and as it turned out she would end up making a life long ally in this rather chaotic process, though neither party had realized it would end up as such at the time.

* * *

Dino Chiavarone had never wanted to be part of the mafia, his hobbies mostly entailed sports and stock investing, all while holding little to no interest in organized crime thank you very much. In fact he found the entire concept morally repugnant, and considering the hole his father had driven their Famiglia into he could not really find a logical reason as to why his assumptions would be considered to be wrong.

After all, his father's 'business' dealings had nearly bankrupted the entire Famiglia, the obvious evidence was there clear as day.

Obviously crime didn't pay, rather it lightened the billfold while shortening your life expectancy in ways many would fear to consider. It didn't matter that he was the only available heir, he didn't WANT to be a mafioso, frankly, he wanted to fucking live past the age of 40 with all his limbs intact thank you very much.

Sulking as he walked down the halls of the Vongola mansion Dino reflected on how he had not even wanted to be dragged to this stupid meeting with his father in the first place.

Luckily a bit of petulant whinging had caused Nono to decide he shouldn't be involved with the proceedings.

He thought it was because the old man understood his viewpoint, while in reality Xanxus was sitting in on the meeting and Timoteo did not have the time nor patience to perform damage control after his son inevitably shot the boy out of annoyance.

Xanxus was a straightforward kind of youth in that manner, something his father appreciated greatly at most times.

Dino grumbled to himself as he entered a tearoom that held a single occupant, a little girl who looked to be of Asian descent. He assessed her a moment before filing her off as harmless and low priority, he'd been briefed on the entire Vongola Famiglia and she wasn't on the list.

A low level servant, or a maids daughter at best.

She was twirling about the room in a puffy black dress listening to what sounded to be overly cheerful K-Pop, and as she carelessly danced about he felt his ire boil over. It must be nice to live such a care free life...

_"(Ooh Boy) inneun geudaero saenggakhae bwa_  
_(Hey Boy) boineun daero nal barabwajwo_  
_(My Boy) geopumcheoreom geojit mameul_  
_Bubble Bubble Bubble Pop!_  
_Bubble Bubble Pop! Pop!"_

Before the third iteration of 'Bubble Bubble Pop' could play through Dino smacked the CD player off the table to the floor, causing the plastic case to shatter on impact while sending the disc flying out to roll down the hall to fall over once it hit the wall.

He really hadn't considered what the girl's reaction would be, and honestly why would he bother with such thoughts, she was only a servant right? Unfortunately for him the girl turned to meet his gaze with hateful, smoldering brown eyes and a moment later a sparking taser was clenched in her right hand. That hadn't been on his potential list of responses, not at all.

"Biiiiiitch..." she growled out lowly, all while Dino could only gulp in fear.

The small girl lunged forward with her taser and he clumsily countered her attack with a snatched up picture frame which exploded when meeting the electrified arcs. Yelping while leaping backwards he managed to just barely avoid the smoldering shrapnel, not that it helped much when a trio of throwing knives fell into her off hand from her sleeve and she tossed them his way.

Two missed, one lodged into his arm.

Staring at the four inches of steel sticking out of his forearm in horror Dino pulled it out and threw the knife back at the insane girl who caught it between her fingers while in the same motion throwing it back at him.

"They were Christmas presents from Bel-nii, gonna have to try harder Nancy..."

As the blade lodged itself in the wall directly beneath his crotch Dino began to truly panic as the girls taser lashed out once again and he barely avoided the acrid stench of ozone as it hit the lamp he'd thrown at the girl. Growling she shook her now stinging arm and Dino began backpedaling as he finally noticed the Sky flames smoldering between her fingers, all while her eyes fully burned away from their earlier caramel brown to a furious molten orange.

"Shouldn't have fucked with Vongola you goddamned herbivore..."

At this he yelped out, "I'm the Chiavarone heir!" She stopped dead in her tracks at that, her earlier vicious demeanor faltering as she raised her brows incredulously.

"What?"

Now was that ever emasculating, having a ten year old girl who was seconds ago chasing your ass down question your heritage. God he was pathetic.

"It's true! I'm with the Chiavarone! I didn't realize you were Vongola! I'm sorry for insulting you!"

The girl stared at him a few moments looking like she was trying to process that while keeping a straight face.

"You're a Vongola ally..."

He nodded quickly at that.

"Holy shit we must be scraping the bottom of the barrel. I mean...you're a weakling herbivore...I...how can you stand yourself? How can you stand knowing your family relies on you for their very survival while being so weak? I mean you're the goddamn _heir_! How can...fuck...I have to talk to Enrico-nii about this..."

That's when Dino Chiavarone, heir to the Chiavarone Familigia had a small girl turn her back on him in disgust whilst she plucked her K-Pop CD off the floor and walked away as if he was not, and had never been a threat to her safety.

Dino sat in that partially demolished tearoom in silence for a time, perhaps for minutes, likely for hours. Eventually, his father found him and coughed lightly gaining his son's attention, "My boy, the Vongola Ninth as offered the aid of a favored ally to train you to take my place, to tutor you properly. I kno-"

"Excellent, when do we begin?" He interrupted his father with a fevered gaze, the old man raised a brow while observing him with a gimlet eye, but saw no trickery from his only son.

"Immediately, why are you so accepting of this?"

Dino snorted at that while resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He'd just had his ass handed to him by a girl who hadn't even hit puberty yet, and when she found out he had been a Vongola ally she'd walked away in disgust questioning her families priorities. Remembering her words he sat up proudly and nodded.

"Because the family needs me to be the strongest I can become, to protect them all."

* * *

Enrico Vongola was the Heir Apparent of the Vongola Famiglia, and frankly he looked the part. Six foot Six, blond haired, green eyed, brutally strong Sky flames and a boisterous demeanor, so obviously Tsunako was drawn to the grinning man like a moth to the light.

"Enrico-nii! So good to see you!" The middle aged man caught the sprinting girl in an open hug and spun her about happily. Tsunako was like a third daughter, baby sister, or a favored niece to him, she was articulate, intelligent, courteous, and loving.

He had no idea how the fuck she was directly related to that idiot Iemitsu.

"Principessa you're getting so big! What's the occasion?" She looked about shyly before shrugging slightly in turn.

"I want you to buy me gelato, and...answer questions..."

The large man chuckled happily as he plucked her off the ground and placed her on his shoulder, "Of course Principessa, how about we hit Geppetto's cart?"

Twenty minutes later Enrico walked beside his delighted adopted little niece as she furiously licked at her recently acquired ice cream, resisting the urge to laugh he raised a brow and glanced down at her.

"So I know you make time for all of us in the summer but was there something specific you wanted to talk to me about? You seemed rather rushed Principessa."

Tsunako scowled as she gnawed on frozen treat, making her look more adorable than normal before she pulled her face away from the dessert while licking her lips.

Sighing she nodded slowly, "The Chiavarone heir confronted me earlier and...he was a total bitch...I mean...he's supposed to run the family and how is he supposed to do so as weak as he is portraying himself?"

Enrico raised a brow at that, not at the language but at the insight, "Well, not everyone wants to be part of the mafia, some are quite resistant to it after all."

Tsunako rolled her eyes at that while twirling a flippant hand to the air, "Yeah that works if you were like, a civilian drawn into this insanity after the fact. This? He grew up in it, he knows it's his burden, and dancing around the subject? It's only going to make matters worse for him later on."

Enrico pondered this a moment while acknowledging the girls words, she was a perceptive one after all, he turned to address her when Tsunako stood up straight, tossing aside her gelato instantly she grabbed Enrico by his shirt and dropped to the ground.

Tsuna weighed nothing, but her motions initiated hard earned muscle memory and Enrico fell to the ground with her as a spray of machine gun fire destroyed the building facade they'd just been standing in front of.

Oh, Enrico saw red. Endanger him? Fine, whatever. Endanger one of his children or little siblings?

Oh this shit was on.

Twisting his wrists his tuning forks fell from their shoulder holsters and he began sending gouts of sky flames at their attackers. They hadn't been prepared for a counter attack, they been hoping to gun him down in a few moments of panic, which may have worked if Tsunako hadn't been his early warning system.

Unfortunately for them, she had.

Wait!

Tsunako...where was she? As the last attacker burned to death he spun around and noticed a panicking man holding his niece/sister/daughter by her throat, a pistol to her head.

Enrico froze, the little brunette was struggling, no fear in her eyes, rather there was a furious rage in their depths. He didn't dare move, and this hesitation was noticed by the assassin.

"Move and she dies Vongola," the sneer was all encompassing, the only weapons Enrico had would kill Tsunako as well!

The small girl pulled against the man's grip and rasped out, "Tinnitus..."

Enrico and the assassin were both baffled, "What?" they chorused.

"Can flames...heal...Tinnitus..."

Enrico's brows furrowed while he nodded once, "Yes, they can Principassa."

Tsunako smiled at that, then she dipped a hand into her skirt, pulled out a tiny two shot pistol aiming up beside her head, and pulled the trigger sending the assassins brain matter skyward.

As she fell from his grip Tsunako grasped the sides of her head groaning in agony as Enrico rushed to her side.

Wow, this was actually worse than an ice cream headache! With that thought, she passed out in her eldest brothers arms.

* * *

**Song credit, Tsunako was listening to Bubble Pop by Hyuna**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When your family is composed of over protective assassins and soldiers.

Lussuria sighed in tired exasperation as he ran his hands down the sides of the small girl laying before him, all while trying not to think about how creepy that thought and accompanying action was. Luckily he played for the home team and said girl trusted him as one could only trust a Sun flame user, so he was able to push all that to the side for now. As the yellow flames snapped between his fingers he hummed to himself quietly while examining his patient.

Adorable tiny miss Tsu-chan hadn't hurt herself _that_ much on her little misadventure, just some scrapes and bruises from when she tased one of the brutes and the rather nasty marks she earned around her neck when that bastardo held her hostage. The primary damage was to her right ear drum and thoroughly shattered malleus and incus bones.

Luckily, Lussuria was one of the best healers the Vongola had so there was no issues with that, he just wished the little girl wouldn't get herself into such situations every time she came to visit. Honestly he realized that Bel dragged her into some rather foolish situations now and again, and her rather adorable fixation on Squalo also led to some indiscretions; but he never thought following Enrico Vongola would cause something like this.

Ah well, what could one do, little sister was after all Varia to the core, she attracted trouble just as easily as any of her brothers, and she took care of business with the aire of a professional. Really, what else could he ask for?

Sighing Lussuria wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he adjusted his sunglasses, grinning down at Tsunako's now healed and resting form he rose from his crouched position stretching a bit before heading back out to the main room.

Pushing the door open he heard Belphegor laughing as the Varia watched a big screen TV displaying security footage of the attack on Enrico and Tsunako.

" _Ushishish_ i, this is the Prince's favorite part," glancing at the black and white footage he watched as Tsu-chan pulled a tiny pistol from her dress and pressed it to her assailants neck as she pulled the trigger without pause.

"Heh, wonder what the last thing that went through that scums mind was?" Xanxus stated with a deep chuckle, as the gun went off Squalo laughed loudly while he downed his glass of wine.

"That'd be a pair of .22 LR rounds! Fuck that girl doesn't fuck around at all does she? HA! Varia Quality that one!"

Xanxus laughed along with his second in command who easily side stepped the wine glass that was thrown at his head which soon shattered against Levi's face, "Damn right she is. Brat's my little sister after all. We have any idea who the fuck these fucking retards are? I may not care about the logistics but even I know that there had to be a reason behind this bullshit."

Mammon shrugged her tiny shoulders lightly, "No idea so far, they were all hired guns brought in on a floating contract covering all of the Vongola brothers including you boss. According to Enrico the only survivor has no info so far, and considering Tsunako was threatened in this attack I'm sure he isn't being gentle with his interrogation."

The bottle in Squalo's hand cracked slightly at that as he nodded, "Yeah...they targeted the Principessa...mother fuckers don't know who the fuck they're fucking with."

Lussuria spoke up at that as he ran a few fingers through his lovely green hair, "On a side note the little darling is doing fine. Fixed her hearing up in a jiffy and cleaned up the blood and grime. Little Sister will make a full recovery in short time."

The collection of assassins seemed to relax at that, Squalo and Xanxus being the stereotypical big brother figures were obviously worried and willing to show it. Bel was a brat and would never admit it but he loved Tsu-chan dearly and the way his knives slid back into their sheaths showed how much he cared. Mammon snorted in amusement, she appreciated the girls business sense, and Levi simply puckered up and prayed no one noticed his look of disdain.

Tsuna really hated their lightning guardian and the feeling was reciprocated, one of these days Luss was going to find out why they had such a poor relationship, and he had a strange feeling it wouldn't end up in Levi's favor.

"That's all beside the fucking point," Xanxus stated as he snatched a bottle of rum off the floor and twisted its cap off, "The question is how do we respond to this? If someone was dumb enough to put a price on my families heads that means there's a money trail. Which in turn means there is some oblivious mother fuckers that need to have their cranial cavities evacuated by blunt force trauma. I need names trash, names I can end violently."

Mammon stared at her boss a few moments before nodding slowly, "I'll find them boss, no worries."

Xanxus snorted at that while rolling his eyes, "I'll just be paying out the fucking ass for it."

Mammon smiled at that while shrugging yet again, "Well yes, my prices don't change. Although..." her teammates froze as she looked about sheepishly before letting out a resigned sigh, "Since they targeted my protege...and no one hurts the Principessa on my time...I'll give a one time discount."

Lussuria had to use every ounce of his willpower not to squeal in delight, even that miser Mammon couldn't resist Vongola's Princess, how cute! So he waited with his family for a time, re-watching the video of Tsuna getting blooded when eventually the front door slammed open.

Standing in the foyer was Enrico Vongola, the blonde man glowering as Sky Flames flickered between his fingers, he met Xanxus's gaze evenly then nodded slowly.

Xanxus grinned as he kicked his legs out and quickly flew from the chair landing on his feet, "You know what fucking idiot started this shit don't you?"

Enrico smirked as his eyes ignited bright orange, "The Estraneo Famiglia. We turned them in to the Vindice when they came out with that possession bullet a couple years ago. Wiping out the heirs to the family was supposed to be their revenge. The Principessa was just a bonus when they tried to take me down..."

The Varia stood as one, even Levi and they were all grinning, Squalo drew his sword staring at it lovingly as he glanced to Enrico, "Voi, what are our orders?"

Enrico spun a tuning fork between his fingers before turning back to the empty hall, "A jets waiting for us, we have to teach some fools a valuable lesson on propriety. Please, don't feel any need to hold back, after all we have to teach them what happens when you try to pick on our little sisters after all."

The most dangerous collection of assassins in the world laughed at that, and anyone listening knew that mercy was not on the menu.

* * *

Tsunako woke up with a splitting headache, she vaguely remembered a sissy blonde guy, ice cream, Enrico-nii, and several dead herbivores, but aside from that she was coming up with a blank. Shakily taking to her feet she wandered about realizing she was in the Varia mansion for some reason and was in the middle of trying to process all this when the main doors slammed open.

"MAGGOTS! Where the hell is my girl?! I swear to fucking god I'll end you all If I don't see her in the next thirty seconds!" Snickering to herself Tsunako stumbled out into the open and waved to her mum and dad as they spun their weapons about, Colonnello's Barrett .50 caliber rifle and Lal's Mossberg 500 Cruiser shotgun easily out massing both their wielders.

"I'm fine Uncle Colonnello! I'm not sure where everyone is right now but I'm ok!" Both cursed soldiers paused a moment before dropping their guns and rushing the girl who took a knee to embrace them in a tight hug.

"Please love don't scare me like that," Lal said with a sniff, Tsunako pulled them a bit closer as Colonnello nodded in agreement.

"You're our little girl brat, don't just up and disappear like that! I left Mafia Island in _Skull's_ care to make sure you were ok, seriously love, don't do this so often."

Sniffling a bit Tsuna could only nod as she held the pair tightly, "I'm sorry...love you guys..."

Lal sighed while closing her eyes in exasperation, "And we love you brat...just...please...try to stay safe, we can't be held accountable for what we'd do to those who harmed you."

At that Tsunako blinked a bit in worry, "Umm... This _is_ the Varia mansion isn't it?"

Colonnello glanced about a moment before nodding, "Yup, you were brought here to get healed up from what I was told, why do you ask?"

Tsunako shivered a moment before sighing, "Oh...just...you know...wondering were they were"

* * *

Squalo snickered a bit as he wiped the blood off his sword onto the scientists white lab coat, the look of horror eternally frozen on the man's face was rather hilarious, Squalo took a moment to take a picture of it before slipping his mobile back in his pocket. He knew his own boss could be brutal but Enrico was fucking _pissed_ and these Estraneo idiots were paying for his ire in spades.

Seriously, this was like, the most fun he'd had in months, no joke. As a screaming man ran past him with his head on fire Squalo shot his arm out and cleanly cleaved him in two before walking deeper into the facility. As the screams of the damned echoed around him he couldn't help the sadistic laughter that boiled from his chest, damn, did he ever love his job.


	5. To Be Fought Over By a Corpse and a Skylark

To many, merely muttering the name 'Kyoya Hibari' elicited an excited response of terror and a nervous muttering of epitaphs including 'The Demon of Namimori,' and 'The Bloodthirsty Skylark.' He was a force of nature, not even in his teens yet the boy had carved a name out for himself that made grown men cringe in fear, fear the boy lapped up with a greedy relish.

That being said, many speculated on what horror could possibly birth such a creature, a child who lusted for violence and wished to exert his form of order on all those that fell under the umbrella of his claimed territory. The general consensus was that Kyoya was the end result of an Oni mating with a mortal, and after being spawned he devoured them both before prowling on looking for further prey.

His mother, a former Triad assassin who currently went by the moniker of Lihua Hibari personally found all this speculation absolutely hilarious when she had the privilege to observe said son sulking at the dinner table. Ineffectually shifting his rice about its bowl the gray eyed child huffed as he picked at the food, obviously not enthused in the slightest with the offered meal.

"Kyoya, what is wrong my dear sochi?"

He huffed again and hardened his gaze to glare at his food, but not at his mother, never his mother. While he would not admit it, he loved her more than anything else in the world and would never do anything to slight her. Any who _would_ slight her would have to deal with him, and be bitten to death for the trouble.

"Nothing haha-ue, it is just..." How could he explain it to her? He was terrible at communicating with the words of herbivores, and while his mother was most certainly a carnivore even she needed him to spell it out.

Why couldn't more people be like his small animal and simply _understand_ him?

"Just what Kyoya? You must eat you know, you need it to grow strong like your father and uncle," that caused him to grit his teeth in anger. His uncle, the _NOT_ baby, who could best him with a single flick of his hand, how he loathed him. One day...one day he would bite him to death, and thus prove his worth as a true carnivore.

"It is Thursday," he stated as calmly as he could at the moment, this only caused one of his mother's perfectly plucked brows to raise in question.

"Is that so? Why, may I ask my musuko, does this matter?"

Coming to the unwanted conclusion that he would have to verbalize his problems Kyoya glanced to the pleasantly smiling woman and sighed as he realized she was giving him her complete and undivided attention.

It made him feel warm, safe, and slightly uncomfortable having such a wonderfully dangerous carnivore's complete and utter interest like this.

"I have not received a hamburger steak in three weeks," this simply caused Lihua's other brow to raise incredulously.

"Oh? You were receiving them before? From who?"

Grinding his teeth he glanced to the side and having no idea why his cheeks heated slightly he quickly replied with, "My small animal."

Her eyes widened perceptibly at that, her cool ice blue gaze soon meeting her sons cloudy grays as her lips crooked up slightly in amused interest, "Your small animal? Who might this be sochi?"

Grumbling in irritation Kyoya stabbed his rice a few times with his chopsticks before relenting, "The carnivore in training, Tsunako Sawada."

A girl? Oh my! Cackling inwardly she kept her enthusiasm tamped down as she responded to her son, "Oh? Who is she? Where did you meet her?"

Kyoya, could not really help himself as the corners of his lips twitched up slightly, "She is...special. I was patrolling and found her confront some herbivores attacking other herbivores. She bit the attackers to death then threatened them for disrupting the peace of Namimori. They ran away in fear of her, it was satisfying to witness."

Lihua did _not_ swoon at Kyoya's slowly growing smile, but it was a close thing, she decided to remain silent as he continued to recount his tale.

"I followed her as she escorted the injured herbivores to their house, and after as she left for her own home. She...she confused me...she...showed mercy but...she was so willing to fight...I...I lost control in my confusion and went to bite her to death."

Lihua's smile fell at that but returned twice as bright as her son's brows furrowed in confusion, "I...couldn't though. She bit back...and didn't back down. She impressed me haha-ue, she isn't an herbivore by any stretch, but she isn't a carnivore yet, she's...a vicious small animal."

Visions of grand babies swimming in her mind the Chinese assassin leaned forward gaining her sons attention as she cocked a brow in question, "And the hamburger steaks?"

His cheeks pinked slightly causing Lihua to suppress hysterical laughter as he stammered out, "Sh-she approached me the next day and offered me a hamburger steak in exchange for the stretch of territory between the school and her home. She...she struck true, it was the best hamburger steak I have ever enjoyed."

Visibly pained at speaking so much at once Kyoya jabbed at his rice a few times before continuing, "She has been bringing a steak every Thursday since. She is unfortunately visiting family in Italy so...I have not been visited by my small animal since vacation began..."

 _His_ small animal, oh my oh my her little Kyoya was smitten!

"What is she like sochi? You said she fights, how so? What is her style, what is special about her?"

Kyoya paused and cocked his head to the side, "Mixed martial arts, along with a taser and pistol, usually throwing knives are mixed in as well. Also..." His brows furrowed a moment before he shook his head slowly, "Never mind."

Intrigued she reached over and grabbed her sons hands, "What is it Kyoya?"

He grunted and glanced to the side before letting out a huff, "When...when Tsuna is angry, or...entering true battle lust, her...her eyes change color...and her hands...I don't know how to describe it haha-ue."

Was she flame active? Interesting at such a young age, she knew her little Kyoya was very near entering Dying Will mode through his fierce determination alone, did he find someone like himself?

"What color do her eyes change to musuko?"

She paused and blinked in shock while her little Kyoya smiled blissfully as he turned to meet her gaze evenly, "Orange haha-ue, the most...vibrant orange... The fires that spark between her fingers are the same color as well, and when she truly becomes enraged I...I feel...complete..."

She couldn't help it, Lihua squealed in delight as she scooped her startled son into a tight hug and spun him about the room as she began cackling at her own euphoric excitement.

Her little Kyoya, not even twelve yet, had begun harmonizing with a Sky so strong that she managed to enrapture a _Hibari_ _Cloud_ without either intending it.

Oh she absolutely _had_ to meet this girl and her family!

* * *

Several thousand miles away Tsunako Sawada shivered slightly as she helped her brothers guide along the gurneys holding the three surviving test subjects of the Estraneo Familgia's experimentations to the CEDEF hospital wing. All three were in very rough shape, the gurney she was currently walking next to held a boy a few years older than herself and he was covered in half healed cuts and scabs.

He opened his eyes after a slight jostle and she was briefly startled seeing the heterochromiac red and blue orbs staring at her warily; on impulse she grabbed his strapped down hand and gave it a gentle squeeze while she sent him a small pulse of Sky flames to ease his pain.

"Don't worry, you're safe now, my brothers saved you and your friends from those bastardi, we'll make sure you get better, I promise."

The boy rasped out a pained laugh that sounded like sandpaper grinding against beef jerky, "Kufufufu...what can you promise me little bird? Words are wind and easily blown away after all."

Puffing up her cheeks in indignation Tsuna swept the boys blue bangs aside as she stared into his eyes not unsettled in the slightest at their differing colors.

"A Vongola always keeps her word Angelo Estraneo, so don't mock me or I'll make sure you don't get any Jell-O during your stay here."

He couldn't help it.

He laughed at the little girl and wished he could ruffle her hair and give her a warm hug in the process, she was adorable.

Coughing he turned back to her meeting the girls gaze evenly, "Angelo Estraneo died when his parents sold him off to be a lab monkey at the whim of his 'family' little girl. I am just a dead body, refuse, I died a half dozen deaths already and I am just waiting for the final nail to end my suffering forever..."

As the gurney finally stopped in a room surrounded by advanced beeping machines Angelo lost track of time as he was hooked to said monitors and medical devices. A short time later he found himself in the familiar and unwanted position of being tied down with needles stuck throughout his body.

He glanced to his side and noted with a bit of surprise that the girl with the smoldering orange eyes was still in the room glaring at him with unnerving intensity. Eventually she stepped forward and grabbed his hand once again and he felt a jolt of warmth shoot up his arm as she stared him down.

"Dying is easy, living is what is hard, are you going to give up and take the easy way out Angelo? Are you weak? Or are you strong?"

Despite the warmth of her hands he wished to push her away in disgusted anger, but was simply too worn out to do so at the moment.

"I told you, Angelo is dead, I am nothing more than a revanent, a corpse. As an aside, dying isn't _easy_ when your sadistic family keeps bringing you back from the dead little girl, so don't speak like you know what you are talking about."

She nodded slowly, "All right, Mukuro, I may not know what you went through but I have a question for you. Are you really going to give up like those bastardi expected, or are you going to prove your former familgia wrong, while surviving and thriving? Become strong, stronger than any of them could have ever have hoped to be, and show the world what they very nearly threw away?"

He paused at that, then cocked his head to the side, "Mukuro?"

The girl shrugged, "I'm mostly Japanese, Mukuro means 'corpse' in my mother tongue, you said Angelo is dead, so I figured you're a walking corpse, yeah?"

He lay there silently before letting out a rasping laugh, "Kufufufufu! Mukuro it is then, and what is your name?"

She grinned down at the boy while nodding once, "I'm Tsunako Sawada of the Vongola Familgia, but you can just call me Tsuna, Mukuro."


	6. Never Betray Family - TYL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten Years Later, showing the ropes to Tsuna's new assistant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm suffering from severe writers block with this story, which is annoying since I really wanted to introduce fem!Gokudera and move this right along. So, as kind of a...palate cleanser we're doing a TYL chapter of Tsuna and her right hand woman showing her still relatively new assistant the wet works side of their organization, I hope you enjoy! Please review!
> 
> Lily: Our apologies for the long wait, we're struggling with the next bit of the plot.

**Ten Years Later, Sicily Italy**

* * *

Sophia shifted her skirt suit about a bit as she tried to make herself more comfortable in the back of the BMW currently transporting her boss to a ...less reputable part of town. Tsunako Sawada, who was seated beside her, was tapping away on her tablet when she glanced up to speak to their driver, who happened to be one of the most viciously loyal members of the Vongola Famiglia.

Well...loyal to the  _Donna_  at the very least, and really in the end that was all Sophia cared about honestly.

"Hikari, any news from the seaport?"

Hikari Gokudera's gaze met Tsunako's via the rear view mirror as she nodded once, her long white hair swaying with the motion.

"Yup, they really are starting shit over our move, I'm not shocked but honestly what did they expect to happen? It isn't like we were ever intimidated by those small fries to begin with."

Tsuna 'hmm'd' while Sophia quietly spoke up, "I'm sorry for interrupting, and I'm only asking so I can file it away for later meetings but...what about a seaport?"

Tsuna snorted in amusement but it was Hikari who replied, "See the mafia, that is the  _civilian_  mafia that hasn't found out about dying will flames had quite the scam going on for awhile. The government in Italy is just...soooo corrupt there are no words for it, they couldn't afford to pay for trash removal so they just kinda let it pile up in the streets."

Rolling her window down Gokudera took out a cigarette and jammed it in her mouth, leaning back she made a 'tsk' noise and without looking up Tsunako extended a finger covered in sky flames lighting the smoke with a light smile gracing her lips.

Puffing on her cancer stick the half Italian turned back to the road as she continued her story, "Thanks boss. So anyway they get this great idea to sell trash removal contracts to just ship all that shit somewhere else, and they didn't care where in so long that it wasn't Italy.

"The civ mafia got sneaky though, they bought up all the contracts, bought piece of shit cargo freighters, and loaded these things to the brim with as much garbage as they could hold."

Tsunako picked up the story there while still browsing her tablet in a distracted manner, "What they did then was take the ship out into international waters, suffer an 'accident' that caused the boat to sink, and the crew was then inevitably saved in the nick of time."

Gokudera snorted as she ashed her cigarette out the window, "Not only did they get the cash from the disposal contract, they got to collect the insurance on a boat that wasn't even worth a quarter of the payout."

Sophia blinked rapidly taking that in before shaking her head slowly, "That's...well...honestly brilliant... So...what did we do to mess that up?"

Hikari snickered to herself as Tsunako turned to meet her assistant's gaze with a wry smirk curling up her lips, "Oh...I underbid them, won the contracts, and used the Storm Flame users in Bel-nii's squad that had annoyed him-"

"-Which is all of them since he's a spoiled brat with an over-inflated superiority complex," Hikari interjected.

Tsunako continued without missing a beat, "-And had them disintegrate the lot of it. No fuss, no mess, we undermine an insurance scam, save the country valuable tax dollars, and are seen as pillars of the community by all."

Sophia could only stare at her boss in wonder as Hikari let out a delighted laugh, "Welcome to Vongola kiddo, enjoy the ride while you can!"

Sophia smiled and just shook her head as the car came to a stop before a somewhat brownstone style building, Gokudera sighed a moment before turning to their boss with a look of resignation marring her features.

"You sure about this boss? I mean I'm no stranger to wet work but bringing the kid along? Shouldn't one of the others have handled this rather than you two?"

The thing about Tsunako Sawada was she never got mad at her people questioning her, because frankly she welcomed it. Idiots that mindlessly fawned over you typically had too limited intelligence to actually do their jobs and as she had pointed out on multiple occasions, what the hell was the point in having advisers if you never listened to their advice?

So, in typical Tsuna fashion she locked down her tablet, tossed it aside, and answered her best friend to the best of her ability.

"Hikari, I couldn't ask Mukuro to do this because I already chided him on his propensity for senseless slaughter and he'd take this assignment as me condoning his actions. Takeshi would do what I asked sure, but he'd be upset about it in the end which would effect both him  _and_  you."

At the mention of her fiance Gokudera grimaced as Tsunako continued, "You know I keep Chrome, Ryohei, Kyoka, and Hana out of the bloodier side of the business on principle alone...though Hana does kinda get off on it. The kids are straight out of the question, so really you were the only choice...and Sophia needs to see the messier side of the family regardless."

The trio sat in silence for a few moments before Hikari finally replied, "She saw the messier side when you saved her..."

Tsuna rolled her eyes while shaking her head, "No she saw me immolate idiots who deserved death in anyone's eyes, especially her own. This..." She glanced to the younger woman before sighing and shaking her head, "Well, she's a Rain, she needs to see where her path will eventually lead...just like Takeshi and Basil-nii..."

Hikari grimaced as she snubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray before nodding slowly, "There's more to this isn't there boss?"

Tsunako sighed, grabbed a case from the floor, and tossed it on the front seat, "They were family, once. They betrayed us but they had been loyal for years, they deserve to know who ordered their deaths from the source, they earned that right."

Opening the case Hikari pulled on a pair of tight leather gloves before pulling out a pistol and a magazine loaded with hollow points. Slamming the magazine home she pulled back the slide and gave the Beretta 92fs a once over before pocketing it and the accompanying sound suppressor before turning back to their boss.

"That why you didn't let the Skylark handle this?"

Opening her door while snorting Tsunako stepping out onto the filthy sidewalk while shaking her head slowly, "No, if Kyoya found out these idiots betrayed the Famiglia, or rather  _me_  it would be a bloody slaughter. My man takes slights against my person in a rather...personal way... Better I handle this one, at the very least the cops won't have to clean viscera off the walls."

Sophia followed the two older women as they entered the building doing her best to keep quiet, which was hard considering the banter going on between the two. She managed it though, thank you very much!

"I seriously do  _not_  get how you're able to handle that bloodthirsty nutball boss, I know 'true love' and all that but really, the man kills people because they annoy him and no one questions it because they don't want to take a tonfa to the face. How do you put up with it?"

Tsunako snorted while throwing her friend a coy smile, "The same way you deal with Takeshi I assume?"

Gokudera snorted in amusement as she opened the apartment complexes door for her boss and Sophia, "Ah, ok. So a whole lot of patience followed with mind blowing, leg quivering sex then?"

Sophia blushed scarlet as the boss snickered at her friends remark, "But of course, now, what floor are these idiots on?"

Hikari sighed as she pointed up at the ceiling, "Fourth, there is three of them in total that I know of."

Tsunako sighed and shook her head slowly, "Should have brought a shotgun, ah well, fewer calls to the cops this way at least."

Entering the lift Sophia tapped the appropriate button as the ancient elevator slowly raised them skyward, all the while shifting about in discomfort as Tsunako played with her mobile and Hikari clicked an ancient Zippo open and close.

Finally, Sophia snapped "Miss Gokudera could you please stop that, it is unnerving..." Rather then getting angry, Hikari smirked and slipped the lighter into her suits pocket before replying.

"Oh so the little kittens got claws? Good. I'm glad. Do take a bit of advice and stay back during this though, you're close, but you aren't ready yet."

Having no idea what the older woman meant the lifts door opened with a ding and Tsunako began walking without a pause before stopping before a door, room 421 specifically. Glancing to her Storm Guardian the white haired woman smirked in turn and pushed a finger into the deadbolt lock which disintegrated in seconds.

With a swift kick to the door the Vongola Decima strutted into the room to find three stunned men at a table in the middle of the enclosure, she paused a moment grinning viciously which caused her prey to shudder as one.

Glancing behind her Tsunako casually stated, "Sophia, the door please?"

Nodding even though her boss couldn't see it Sophia pushed the door closed, and earned an amused snort from Gokudera when she pushed in the button lock on the handle.

Taking the empty fourth chair for herself Tsunako sat down, glanced at the plastic container of cannoli in the table center, and delicately plucked one out and began munching on it before meeting the startled trios gaze evenly.

"I'm not going to waste my time here, you idiots betrayed the Vongola Famiglia. M _y_  Famiglia, and I want to know why."

One of the men shifted about slightly, not the obvious leader if you took the other two's scowls into the equation, but eventually he spoke up.

"Blackmail, they bought up our gambling debts and then threatened our families, there was nothing more complex then that..." Sighing Tsunako glanced to Hikari who nodded once. She believed him, God help the sorry bastards.

"Well...that is rather definitive now isn't it... What to do with you...Gokudera?" The white haired woman pulled the Beretta from her jacket while rolling the sound suppressor into place and quickly aimed it at the three traitors.

"Any last words? I am a fair woman and will hear what you have to say while taking it to heart," the previously silent two ranted and raved but were too cowardly to move from their seats.

The original speaker though replied in a quiet tone when they had finally run out of steam, "I ask that you don't shoot me in the face? For my  _madre_ , please Donna?"

Tsunako grimaced, looking ill, but nodded as she turned to Hikari before replying "Certo, e mi dispiace, ...Do it."

A moment later there were six distinct gunshots, even though they were suppressed Sophia felt they sounded like thunderbolts. Two of the men fell with holes in their heads and hearts, the speaker for the group though only smiled sadly as he starred down at the pair of bleeding orifices in his chest.

Glancing up he coughed out a spray of blood while weakly stating, "Thank...you..."

A moment later he fell over, and the three women stood there a moment before Tsunako glanced to Hikari and drawled out her command.

"Leave the gun," glancing back to the table she shifted her gaze to Sophia while jerking her head towards the object of her focus, "and take the cannoli."

As the trio of women left the death strewn room, Sophia couldn't help wondering about her own sanity, because she had never been more content with her position in life as she felt right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love mafia movies, you guys? Anyway, hopefully this cleared the path to the future, please review!


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